


Hero

by Egungun



Category: Little Witch Academia, Nurarihyon no Mago | Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan
Genre: Akko has secrets, F/F, F/M, Family History, Family Secrets, How Do I Tag, Murasame, Nine tailed fox, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past, Past Abuse, Tags May Change, Top Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, War, Yôkai, akko is sad, dark akko, everyone is worried, origin, talented akko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:42:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26760823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Egungun/pseuds/Egungun
Summary: No one truly knows about Akko's past, but that changes when in magic linguistics class gave them a nine-person group assignment.Will the blue, red, and green teams along with Profesor Ursula learn more about Akko and her family? Will Akko finally let her guards down?
Relationships: Atsuko "Akko" Kagari & Sucy Manbavaran & Lotte Yanson, Atsuko "Akko" Kagari/Amanda O'Neill, Atsuko “Akko” Kagari & Everyone, Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Ursula Callistis | Chariot du Nord/Croix Meridies
Comments: 21
Kudos: 154





	1. Group Assignment

Walking through a dark hallway, she found herself in a familiar-looking room, far too familiar for comfort. A navy blue living room, a fireplace in the far corner, one large L shaped gray sofa in the middle, a black coffee table in front, two large glass doors that lead to the backyard, and a family portrait in a fancy wooden frame on top of the fireplace. Slowly walking towards the portrait, she let her fingers run over the sofa. Now standing in front of the photo, she could see something or someone standing behind her in the reflection on the glass panel. She slowly turned around and saw a shadowy figure, only inches away from her, judging by the feminine curves it had, it was female. Before she could do anything else, the creature reached out and caressed her left cheek, the simple act was far too familiar as it sent shivers down her spine. Realization dawned on her, she remembered this feeling, the feeling of fear, pity, sadness, longing, inadequateness, and … weakness. She hated those feelings, there was only one person in the world that made her feel those feelings or at least, used to.

“Is there something you need, mother?” Swallowing the knot in her throat, she tried to calmly ask, but it came out hoarse. 

The figure only made a spine chilling chuckle, an inhumane smile made it’s way on its face, as it said. “Little puppet.” before withering away into nothingness.

It suddenly was getting harder to breathe, she felt pain in her chest that slowly spread through her body, as she collapsed on to her knees. When she tried to grip the pained spot on her chest, it felt warm and wet, she looked down at her hand to see what it was, her eyes widened, her hand was now covered in blood, her blood. 

The word “little puppet” filled the room, as it kept repeating over and over again, getting louder and louder every time it repeated. Covering her ears, she bent down, slamming her head on the floor, she wanted it to stop, the pain, the voices, the misery, the pretense, and the sorrow. 

She kept telling herself, that there’s no need to be afraid, she’s fine, she’s safe, the root of her pain is gone, all the bad things are in the past, well most of it. She kept trying to convince herself, but to her avail, she couldn’t, she just couldn’t. Despite being the one who always talked about believing in themselves, but she could not. Wild tears ran down her cheeks, she was overwhelmed with pain and sorrow. 

  
  
  


Akko woke up, gasping for air, she frantically looked around, taking in her surrounding, she finally realized that she was in her dorm room, in bed, her two friends calmly sleeping in their respectable beds. She sat up on her bed and looked back to see the clock on her table, it was currently five-thirty in the morning, she touched her cheeks, she was finally aware of its wetness, she’s been crying during her nightmare. 

_ ‘It’s been a while since I thought about her,’  _ deeply sighing _ ‘An hour and a half till breakfast, doubt Lotte and Sucy would wake up anytime soon,’  _ she thought to herself  _ ‘No point in going back to sleep.’ _ She quietly got up and started to put her school uniform, putting on her white long-sleeved shirt, navy blue vest, a tie of the same color, and a skirt, that is way above the school appropriate length, and last but not least, her team’s red sash, with her magic wand. 

Satisfied with the way she dressed, Akko quietly left her room, after taking her books and notes for magic linguistics, history of magic, and magic numerology, leaving behind her still slumbering teammates. 

Having a whole hour to spend, Akko made her way to her first class, magic linguistics, to leave her supplies at her desk, she didn’t feel like carrying them the whole time. The walk to her classroom was uneventful, as expected, the halls of Luna Nova was barren only a few worker fairies here and there, doing their things, occasionally greeting the brunette as she walked by. 

It has only been a week since The Parade of the Witch Hunt, the red and green team created a strong bond with each other, they would hang out every day, much to Finnelan’s dismay. 

Finally coming to her first classroom, Akko pushed open the door… and, of course, Diana Cavendish was already there, diligently reading a book. Sighing for the umpteenth the time today, Akko made her way toward her seat, which so happens to be right in front of the British witch’s table. 

Hearing the soft footsteps that were getting closer, the platinum blond looked up to see who it was, and to her surprise, it was the brunette, which was quite odd, since she was so used to seeing the brunette arriving late.

“I didn’t know it was possible for you to wake up this early,” Diana commented. 

“Goodmorning to you too, Diana.” Akko grumbled, “and for the record, I can wake up early just fine, I just don’t like to.”

“Then why are you here then? Since you clearly dislike waking up early, like a normal human being.” The platinum blond said the last part in a whisper. 

“I’m sorry, but don’t you have reading to do or something!?” The brunette snapped, shocking the blond by her sudden temper. Seeing the shocked expression, Akko quickly apologized. “... sorry, I’m just- I don’t want to talk about it. It’s… personal.” her feature darkened, she placed her school supplies on the table and said. “I just came here to leave my stuff, I’m gonna go to the kitchen.”

“The cafeteria isn’t open, we still have fifty minutes till breakfast.” Diana added.

“I known, I’m just gonna go and help the fairies with the preparation.” Akko said before she left the classroom. 

For an hour or so, Akko helped the fairies in the kitchen, which was greatly appreciated by the staff, she and the fairies quickly became friends, cracking jokes and gags with one another as they finished their breakfast preparations for the students. 

After finishing up, she got her food and got a table for both of the red and green teams. One by one the cafeteria started to fill up, the once quiet room was filled with teen girls chatter and laughter. Akko felt genuine happiness when spotting her friends from the crowd, she waved at them and waited for them to get their food. 

“Yo, Akko, fancy seeing you this early.” Amanda teased. The red and green teams taking a seat at the brunette’s table.

“Yeah, Akko, what gives? I was planning to test a new potion on you this morning.” Sucy grumbled. 

“Sucy!” Lotte hit her friend’s arm lightly, she then turned to her other friend. “Is everything alright, Akko? You don’t usually wake up this early.”

“No, worries, I just had a little nightmare, no biggie.” Akko tried to dismiss her friend’s worries, but her friend wasn’t convinced. “We all have Magic Linguistics together, right?”

“I don’t know about that.” Amanda mischievously grinned. “Last night, me and Cons did a little harmless prank, ya see.”

“Um... what did you exactly do?” Lotte timidly asks. 

The American witch leaned back on her chair and said. “Nothin’ much, just sent her a fake letter from her home. She’ll be gone for the rest of the week.” A satisfied expression made its way on the tomboy’s face. 

“You do realize there’s no way in hell, we’ll be off the hook, right? We’re just gonna have some stinking sub to replace her, it would have been better to poison her and put her out of commission.” Sucy frowned. 

“You may be right, but hey, anyone’s better than that old crone, right?” Amanda grinned wider. 

The six girls finished their breakfasts and went to their Magic Linguistics class, knowing that they should have a sub. And to their pleasant surprise, it was the blue-haired professor in the classroom, fixing a few stacks of paper at the teacher’s desk. Professor Ursula was one of the few teachers whom, the students genuinely liked, especially Akko, since the young professor helps the brunette with her spell casting. 

The students greeted their professor, as they slowly filled in the classroom. While many were confused, as to why their professor was absent but instead the astronomy professor was there, no one complained, it was a pleasant change. 

The bell rang throughout the school, indicating the start of their class. Professor Ursula made her way behind the pedestal and cleared her throat, grabbing everyone's attention. “Good morning class, you all be wondering why Profesor Finellan isn’t here, well, due to personal reason’s she will be away from school for the remainder of the week.” Amanda chuckled, but was unnoticed by her teacher, as she continued. “So, I’ll be taking her place for the next three days.” The classroom was erupted with excited cheers after hearing the announcement. “Sadly, professor Finnelan’s leave was short noticed, so she didn’t have time to leave instructions behind. So, the Headmistress and I came up with a fun graded activity for everyone that’s due this Friday.” The cheers immediately died out and all let exasperated groans and sighs, the teacher chuckled as she continued. “Now, now, I promise you, that this will be fun. Under each desk, there's a piece of paper, merely brush it with your hand, and a number should pop up on your group. That number will be the number of your group, so look around and group up with the other teams.” 

Everyone quickly did as instructed and eagerly looked around to see who they grouped up with, after five minutes or so, the whole class divided into five groups, each with nine students. And it just so happens, that the red, green, and blue teams were stuck in the same group. 

“Now that everyone is in their groups, allow me to explain what you shall be doing. In your groups, everyone shall be playing a memory to your teammates, while the first one lying down and concentrating, the other eight should cast the spell ‘ _ Gala Memori. _ ’ When cast correctly a magic screen should pop up and let others see their memory, while the person who is lying would relive that moment. After everyone takes their turn in showing their memory, the group must select one person to show their memory to in class, Friday. And of course, to keep your privacy, the classroom will be left empty for me and the single group, so the five groups can take turns in casting the spell and showing it to me.” The professor finished. 

“We shall you in the library, after school at 4 pm, sharp.” Diana announces to the green and red teams, before she, Hannah, and Barbara left.

  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Carelessness of a dork

“I am pleased that everyone made it in time. Now let’s begin with our assignment.” Diana announced. “Who wishes to go first?”

Currently, the blue, red, and green teams were at the library, and none of them raised their hands to volunteer. Akko was still in a bit of a sour mood, so she was quietly looking out the sunny scenery from the window, everyone was quite weirded out about how uncharacteristic she was being. Every time someone would ask her if she’s alright, she would say that she’s fine and not to worry about it. 

“Um… since none of us are willing to volunteer, who about we do a lottery to see who goes first?” Lotte timidly suggests. 

“You’re right, Miss Jansson. A lottery is probably the best course of action, does anyone object to this way of decision?” Diana asks, seeing non of her teammates complain, she hums in understanding. 

Diana takes out her wand and mumbles a spell and points at a piece of paper, after few seconds the paper gets evenly rips into nine pieces, and on each piece, the names of each of her teammates and hers. The papers fold into smaller pieces and get shuffled in the air. Lotte walks up and picks one, unfolding it she read out “Amanda O’Neil.”

“Crap, so I’m going first?” Amanda questions, getting a nod as an affirmative, she exasperatedly sighs. “Ugh, let’s hurry up and get this over with.”

The loud American climbs up on the table and lies down, as the other eight girls stand up and surround her, their wands in hand. They all close their eyes and concentrates, shouting out the magic incantation,  _ “Gala Memori!”  _ A black screen morphed into existence from the magic the girls were emitting, they sighed in relief for the succession of the spell, and now, all they need is to watch and enjoy the show. Amanda showed a scene of her and her grandmother flying, next was Lotte, who showed a memory of her playing with spirits, Barbara showed a scene of her and Hannah’s first time meeting, Sucy showed a memory of her making her first potion she made with her mother, Jasminka showed a memory of her and her parents baking pastries. All the memories are happy and sweet, everyone who got their turn had a cheerful expression, even Sucy. Time flew by like an arrow, the next thing they knew, was that they had already spent four hours. Since they started their project. 

“That’s all the time we can spare today, we’ll continue with this tomorrow. Let us meet in our room at the same time, to keep more privacy. Well, good day to you all, have a pleasant night.” Diana and the rest of the blue team leave the library shortly after. 

“Hey, Akko, you alright bro?” Amanda placed a hand on said girl's shoulder. 

“I’m fine, it’s just that, there’s something in my mind. I’ll be okay after we get some dinner. Come on, let's go.” Akko smiled, walking past her worried friends. 

Dinner wasn’t quite eventful, there were some small talks and jokes, as the green and red teams were enjoying their food. While Akko was having a little gun time with teasing Amanda about her memory, Sucy quickly slipped a vile of her new potion into Akko’s soup, Akko being the clumsy, lovable dork she is, didn’t realize it, so she ate it. The girls finished eating their food and said their goodnights. 

Throughout the night, Akko felt restless, tossing and turning, she started to sweat, her breathing became heavy. It felt like an eternity, till finally, she lost consciousness. 

* * *

“Hey Akko, it’s time to wake up, or else, we’ll be late for class.” Lotte shook her friend, trying to wake up the sleeping brunette, but something felt off, probably because the once brunette hair was now a night sky black, and her form felt smaller. Weirded out by the sudden change, she took a step back, looking at her equally confused roommate, she turned back around to look at the now-black-haired friend. “Umm… Atsuko?” 

The blacked haired girl woke up, gently lifting herself off the bed, she looked up at the two confused teens, revealing a pair of navy blue eyes, now that the girl was standing up, it was clear to the two girls that she was much younger than them, the girl was around the age of six or seven. “Where am I?” she asks, with a blank face.

“You’re in Luna Nova Magical Academy. But, who are you? And where’s our friend Akko?” Lotte asks.

“But… I am Akko, Atsuko Kagari.” The little girl answered confusedly. 

“How is that possible, unless… Sucy!”

“Yeah, I may or may haven’t put something in her dinner last night. That could have been the reason she got transferred back ten years, but I don’t know why her hair and eyes changed color.” Sucy admitted, a sly glint in her one visible eye. 

“Ugh, we need professor Ursula’s help, for now, let's get ready for class and get breakfast.” Lotte groaned, she looked back at her friend’s younger self and sighed. Taking out her wand, pointing it at her friend’s uniform, she muttered a spell, as her wand starts to glow, the uniform starts to shrink and stopped when it’s small enough to fit it’s old, but younger owner. “There, could you put this on, Akko? It should now fit you perfectly. We’ll fix you right back up, after we get breakfast, okay?”

The younger Akko nods and smiles, the sight would have been heartwarming and endearing, if it weren’t for the fact that, this Akko’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. Lotte made a mental note to check on her, ask her if she’s alright. 

The three girls quickly change and went to the cafeteria. Whenever they went past other students, they would get questioning stares, wondering where’s the boisterous Japanese went, and why there was a six-year-old in the school. Ignoring all their peers, the three made it to the cafeteria, they spotted their usual table and guided their little friend. “Akko, could you please sit here and wait for us, we’re just gonna go and quickly grab some breakfasts. And, if you see a group of girls with green sashes, call them over and explain everything to them, okay?” Lotte requests.

“Explain everything, you mean that I tell them who I am, and inform them, that my older self was poisoned by the mauve haired girl, right?” Akko queries, make sure what to say.

“Her name is Sucy, but yeah. That’s enough to explain everything.” Lotte sile and pats the little girl’s head. 

“What are you doing?” The young Akko asks, stopping the Finish witch, there was no malice or distaste in the girl’s tone, the pure perplexed expression the girl made, was the thing that stopped Lotte.

“Showing affection?” seeing the still puzzled little face, Lotte slightly frowned, “We’ll continue this later, I need to get us some breakfast, stay put, okay?” and walked away, joining Sucy in the line. 

The six-year-old sat there, quietly contemplating her surroundings until she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, she turned around and was faced with a platinum blond girl, behind her were two more girls. “Hello, little one, are you lost?” The platinum blond asks.

“No, I don’t think so. Apparently, my older self was poisoned by Sucy.” Akko’s younger self informs. 

“Wait, you’re Akko?!” The two girls from behind shrieks, while Diana’s eyes widen.

“I don’t know why everyone is so surprised. Do I look that different when I’m older?” Akko inquires, and clearly annoyed. 

Diana was the first to recover from her surprise, “Well, you do look rather… different, than any one of us had expected-”

“Different is an understatement!” Barbara exclaims, “Yeah! Like, what happened to your hair and eyes, they completely changed colors. And why aren’t you acting like a normal six-year-old.” Hannah continues. 

“Ah, right, sorry. I wasn’t acting properly, since mother isn’t here, I forgot to be, normal.” Akko sighs, closing her eyes and reopening them. She smiled brightly, but just like last time, it didn’t reach her eyes. “Is this to your liking? I still haven’t mastered my ‘happy face’ yet, so please forgive me. Mother said that my smile had to reach my eyes, but I don’t quite get what she meant by that.” she informs them, all the while still smiling. 

The little girl’s smile sent shivers down the three’s spine, she had an endearing smile, both warm and cute, but her eyes, where empty, looking at them were like staring at a void of darkness, empty and hollow, just like a doll’s. 

“Okay, I think you should stop, you’re expression is just too empty, like a freaking puppet’s, it’s kinda freaking me out.” Barbare shivers. 

“But, isn’t that what kids are, mindless puppets who serve their parents. We are only disposable pawns for them, slaves that follow their master’s orders.” Akko said, still smiling. “Come now, let’s be honest, that’s the only reason why our parents gave birth to us, to control and rule over us. That’s just the relationship between the parents and child, there doesn’t have to be love in a family. And believe me, I know, my family made sure of it.”

The blue team was about to say something but was interrupted by the red and green teams. “Wow, so that’s Akko? She looks way different than I imagined or any of us.” Amanda says bewildered, she turned around and said, “Hey, Cons, good news, you’re not the shortest.” getting a punch in response. 

The girls take their seats and start to eat their food, the blue team leaves shortly after, trying to ignore what the young girl had said to them dew minutes ago. The green and red teams share jokes and jabs until they had to go to their first class pf the day. Throughout the whole time, the six-year-old was still smiling.


	3. Old Scars

The teams red, blue, and green were all in professor Ursula’s room to discuss making an antidote for their dear friend, who is currently a six-year-old child. Diana was still troubled by the thing the little Akko said during breakfast, she kept thinking about the cold dead eyes the girl had when she talked about family. A family without love? There couldn't be such a thing, family is made by love, love so strong and deep, so pure and kind. During lunch, the teens had confronted the little girl, asking what did she mean about ‘my family made sure’ and asked about her past, but the girl’s only reply was a calm and distant one, ‘If my older self hadn’t told any of you about my past, then I won’t either. Your lack of knowledge about me is making me question your statements about you being my trusted friend is true or not. If I truly did trust you as you all say, shouldn’t I’ve already told you about my past?’ 

It was hard for everyone to believe that this is the same girl they all know, there wasn’t a hint of kindness or warmth in this child, no, she was the epitome of the phrase “Alive but dead inside.” Now the child was quietly gazing out the window, her eyes dull and face avoid of all emotions. 

“You think she’s alright? It’s been hours since she last moved or even said anything.” Lotte’s worried tone cut through the silence of the room, as she whispered to her peers and professors. 

“She’s probably just scared and confused, she is in a new place with a bunch of strangers, who wouldn't be?” Ursula tried to lift the mood.

“Apparently she would, just look at her, she’s calm and collected. More than any other adults I’ve ever seen.” Croix commented, she looked at Sucy and questioned, “You sure that’s Akko? Cuz last time I checked, she didn’t have black hair or blue eyes, and don’t get me started with her behavior.”

“Don’t worry, I checked, the kid is Akko. Something must have happened to her in the past to make her as she is.” Sucy answered, she held up a bottle and grinned “I made a truth potion for her so we can get some answers.”

“I don’t think we should do that, we shouldn’t just breach our friend’s privacy like that.” Lotte said, trying to stop the mushroom addict from getting near the six-year-old. 

“No no, Lotte, let her go, let’s see what happens, it’s not like there’s anything serious a six-year-old can hide.” Amanda placed a reassuring hand on the ginger-haired girl, sending a mischievous smirk to Sucy as approval.

The rest of the witches didn’t know what to say, so they decided to stay silent. Sucy walked up to Akko and handed her the potion. “Hey, twerp, drink this.” is all the mauve haired girl said. The six-year-old looked at the concoction in the bottle and hesitantly drank it.

After a few minutes, the little girl spoke, “Nothing happened.” 

“Oh don’t worry, the potion was a success.” Sucy cackled, she turned to the others and said, “Well, ask away.”

Surprisingly, it was Diana who came up first, with a nervous excretion, she sat in front of the girl, “Atsuko, can you tell us about your family?” 

“N-Yes, my family is one of the wealthiest in the Land of the Rising Sun. My parents were married by an arranged engagement, I was born into the family in the first year of their marriage. Both my parents are busy, so I was raised by my grandparents from the beginning, neither of my parents loved or even liked each other, so I hope that at least gives you the vaguest idea of how I was treated. It was pretty rare to see them together, and when they were, they would always argue and it always ended in tears and bloodshed.” Silent tears started to fall from the girl’s cold azure eyes, “And at the end, mother would always take her frustrations out on me...” A stoic pale face with fresh tears running down, that’s what the witches saw. “Then again, can you blame her? It’s not her fault, that’s just how life is, she’s like this because of her parents, and I’m like this because of her… it’s a vicious cycle, really.”

It was clear that the Atsuko they thought they knew, never experienced any kind of love from anyone, not even from her own parents. They decided to not further question the girl since it was obvious that this kind of topic was a sensitive one. 

“Man, I didn’t expect that.” Amanda sighed, she sat down on the couch and an idea popped up, “Since Akko’s a depressed - and probably suicidal - six year old, why not take her out and let her have some fun, maybe that’s what she needs, some love and fun.”

“That’s not a bad idea, coming from you.” Hannah joined, “But the question is, what? We don’t know a single thing about this, old Akko.”

“Just show the kid some magic or something, and maybe fly around the school on a broom. You all know how she gets when magic is involved, right?” Croix suggested. 

“Well, whatever you guys decide to do, don’t, cuz the antidote will be done in the morning.” Sucy got up and made her way to the door, “Besides, I already finished the antidote to bring her back to normal. All we have to do is make her drink it and ask her about her past.” She walked over to the six-year-old and nudged her shoulder, making her look at her with a slightly irritated face but she still had the fake smile. 

“Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Manbavaran?” Akko asked.

“Drink this, it’ll bring you back to normal, now hurry.” Sucy just shoved the potion in the girl’s face, earning an irritated sigh. 

The younger Akko snatched the vial and drank the strange green liquid. There was a tense few seconds then -boom- pink smoke engulfed the little girl’s form, a groan was heard from the smoke, then a second later emerged out the Akko everyone knew and loved, with her chestnut hair and bright red eyes, “Ugh, what happened?”

Lotte’s eyes widened in horror when she saw her friend half-naked, “Oh my god, Akko! What happened to you!?” She pointed her finger at said girl’s chest.

All eyes followed the area Lotte was pointing at, and their eyes also widened in shock, on Akko’s chest, right between her breasts was a giant scar that continued to go through her back. Akko followed their gaze and quickly realized what they were looking at, she immediately grabbed a random towel and covered her scar. She tries to run away, when a firm arm grips her wrist, it was professor Ursula.

“Akko, are you alright? How did you get that scar? Please, say something, you know you can trust us, right?” Ursula pleads, desperation clear in her voice. 

Akko looked away, avoiding every possible eye contact with any of the girls in the room, she let out a small sigh, “Who else other than my mother?” She gives a short reply and gently takes out her arm from the worried professor's grasp before taking her leave. 

  
  


* * *

The next day, surprisingly, Akko was back to her normal self, cheerful, and happy. She pretended as if nothing happened last night, she would just avoid the subject of flat out ignoring it. 

The halls of Luna Nova were louder than usual, there was a particular rumor running around, saying that there will be a new transfer student from Korea coming in today. The blue, red, and green teams were at their Magic Numerology class, where the professor made an announcement, “Good morning students, now I know that you’ve all probably heard about the news that we will be having a new transfer student, so I want all you give a warm welcome to, Miss Hwa-Young Mong.”

The moment the name came out of the young professor's mouth, the door opened and revealed a beautiful girl, she had purple eyes and long wavy black hair that reached her waist, all eyes were on the new girl, but her attention was solely on a certain brunette. The two made eye contact, one had a blush and the other with an unreadable expression. Professor Ursula caught on to their staring contest and had a not so bright idea for the two, “It seems like you and Akko already know each other,” she smiled, snapping the two girls out of their trance, “Miss Kagari, could you be so kind to let our new student shadow you for today?” she sent a gentle smile to the brunette.

“Yeah, sure.” Akko answered with a monotone voice, all the while balling his fist under the table. 

“Wonderful, now, Miss Mong, could you go sit next to Miss Kagari over there?” Ursula clapped her hands, totally misunderstanding the aura between the two girls,  _ ‘I was worried that she won’t fit it, but thank Jenifer that Akko and Hwa-Young already know each other, they seem like such good friends.’ _

The young professor nodded and started her lesson, the transfer student kept stealing quick glances at the brunette, who was obviously trying to ignore the other girl. Sighing, Akko whispered to her, “What do you want?”

“I’m just happy to see you again, you have no id-”

“Knock it off, didn’t I make things clear to you when we last met?” Akko glared at Hwa-Young, “Besides, we’re in class, so stop talking and listen.”

Till lunch, there was a cold and tense aura between the two, no one dared to get between the crossfire. Now sitting at the lunch table, the blue, red, and green teams and the new student, were gatting toy know each other with the exception of Akko, who quietly sat there, brooding. 

“So, how long have you and Akko known each other?” Hannah asked, taking an interest in the new girl.

“Well, since the start of middle school, I think, right, Akko?” Hwa-Young asked the brunette, who just shrugged and looked away.

“What got her panties in a twist?” Amanda lightly frowned, “You’d think she’d be happy seeing her long time friend.” 

“You see-”

“I need to go.” Akko quickly stands up after slamming her hands on the table, “See you guys in class.” she leaves.

Making sure that the brunette was out of earshot, Amanda grins “We’re totally gonna follow her.” She shots up and runs after the girl, behind her following the rest.

  
  
  
  



	4. Hate

The girls all followed Akko outside, where a member of the violet team, Avery, was waiting for her in the more secluded part of the courtyard. They hid behind the closest tree and watched, wondering why the two frenemies were meeting one another.

They watched as the two girls started conversing, whatever they were talking about looked serious. They noticed that Avery looked giddy and flustered, her face was beet red and by the looks of it, she was stuttering, pretty bag. On the other hand, Akko looked stoic, she had an unreadable expression as she talked to the other girl.

The two stayed quiet for a bit when Akko let out a sigh, she said something to the other girl and took a step closer to her, gently lifting her chin up. Avary’s got even redder before she gave a gentle nod to her.

The girls' eyes widened when they saw Akko lean down and kiss Avery. The two stayed that way for a few seconds before separating, no more words were exchanged when Avery took off running while Akko calmly walked back to school.

“Yo, what the hell just happened?” Amanda yelled. For some reason, she felt a pang in her chest, she couldn't really explain it but when she saw Akko kiss Avery… Avery of all people, she felt a bit of pain and a little irritated.

“I didn’t know those two were a thing.” Hannah commented, she then turned to the red team, “What about you, did you guys know?”

“Nope, not at all.” Sucy deadpanned, as per usual.

“No, Akko never really talked about her past or relationship status.” Lotte sheepishly answered. “But it’s not like she has an obligation to tell us everything… she’s her own person.” even if she said those words, she was honestly a little hurt.

The girls talked back and forth, making up their own suggestions and theories on the way back. Diana and Hwa-Young were the only ones who didn't participate in their little debate.

Once at the library, Diana spoke, “Hwa-Young, out of all of us, you’ve known Akko the longest. Mind telling us how she was back in Japan?”

“Yeah, you’re right!” Barabar beamed, she turned to the other girl, “Come on, spill the beans. Tell us why you two are acting weird!”

Hwa-Young looked away, feeling pressured, “I-I don’t know, I don’t think she’ll appreciate it if I told you about her past… she might hate me even more...”

“Okay, now you have to tell us! What is going on?!” Amanda yelled, throwing her arms in the air in frustration. The whole secrecy about the brunette was driving her mad. The two of them are supposed to be friends, and friends are supposed to share their pain and sufferings, not stay quiet and hurt alone. She gritted her teeth and plopped herself down on the couch.

“Amanda’s right, we’re Akko’s friends too, so we need to know what’s going on!” Sucy commanded, she turned to look at the blue team and back to Hwa-Young, “Definitely not them, but you get the point.”

The girl sighed and looked up at the others, “...What I tell you now must never leave this room and you nor I will ever speak of this ever again. Got it?” she got quiet nods and continued, “Akko and I used to date back in Junior high. Well, she dated almost every girl in middle school.”

“So, wait, is Akko a player?” Hannah asks.

“It’s kinda hard to say, whenever she ‘dated’ someone, it would always be for a week, and the day after that, she just leaves. You see, back in Middle school and Junior High, Akko had a reputation of being well, somewhat emotionless. So, everyone took that as a challenge and decided to ask her out, basically play with her and you can probably guess, I myself was one of them. And since she never rejects anyone who isn’t a guy, the whole student body participated, they even made a schedule of who and when to ask her.” She paused for a bit, “Everyone thought it would be all fun and games till they themselves started to fall for her. You see, during the week of dating, spending time with Akko makes you feel… special. The way she acts and talks to you makes you feel loved as if no one else has ever loved you before, but when the week comes to an end, all those warmth and love vanish like nothing happened.”

“So you can probably imagine how everyone felt when Akko left.” Hwa-Young looked down in shame, preparing herself for any ridicule and hate.

Diana spoke first, breaking the silence, “Okay, now I understand, so does that mean Akko and Avery will be together for the week?”

“Ye-”

“No, we’re not.” The girls stiffened at the tone of the voice. Akko stood at the doorway, arms crossed and glaring at a certain girl. “I would appreciate it if you keep your mouth shut, Mong Hwa-Young.”

“Yo, Akko, calm down, don’t be mad at her, we were the ones who asked her to tell us about your past.” Amanda placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

“Even so, she could have refused to say anything.” Akko sighed, she sat down on the couch and rested her head on her arm, “Are we gonna do the assignment or what?”

“Yeah, sure, but I have a question.” Taking the silence as a sign to go on, Barbara asked, “You said that you and Avery aren’t going out… then, why did you kiss her?”

“... because she said that it’ll help her move on. I don’t know how that works… but I hope it helps.” Akko let out another sigh and looked at the window.

* * *

Till dinner, the girls continued to do the ritual. They decided to cast the spell on Akko in class tomorrow, so the remaining 4 girls each took turns to show their memory in the library today.

Almost everyone showed a memory of them having family bonding times, all except Hwa-Young. Hers was a rather, serious one.

_The screen showed Hwa-Young and Akko, standing on a school rooftop. Suddenly, Young climbed over the safety fence over the rooftop, “Akko, if you won’t accept my love, then I’ll jump!” she loudly declared, her hands firmly grasping the railings._

_Akko didn’t say anything, she just calmly walked towards the other girl. Once in front of her, she pushed her, but before she actually fell, Akko took hold of her collar. Young was now dangling over the rooftop, her hands were holding Akko’s for dear life, her eyes got watery and she was now shaking in fear, the only thing that was stopping her from falling to her doom was Akko._

_In a cold and empty voice, she spoke, “You said that you’ll die if I won’t love you back, right? … why should I, you say you love me, and so what? That doesn’t mean I have to love you, you do know that right? Did you really think I cared about you or your life that much, that I was willing to give up my freedom for you?”_

_“Well, you thought wrong, I don’t give a rat’s ass about you or anyone in this damned school, don’t think so highly of yourself.” Akko’s grip on her shirt loosened, “If you really want to die, then go on, all you need to do is let go of my arm, then you’ll get your wish.”_

_There it was, the waterworks. Tears burst out of Hwa-Young, she was shaking and crying, “I-I don’t want to die, p-please… d-don’t...”_

_Akko’s empty gaze hardened into hatred, she violently pulled the weeping girl against the fence and turned around, making her way back into the school. Byt before she left, she glared at the crying girl once more, who was now in a fetal position, “You know… I hate people like you, talking about death like it’s a joke, just seeing you makes me want to hurl. I hope for your own good, we won’t have to see each other again.” She turned back around, “Have a nice life, Mong Hwa-Young.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Please help me come up with some tags, I'm really horrible at it.


End file.
